Edouard Edmund Bermudez (January 19, 1832 – August 22, 1892) was a Louisiana attorney who served as chief justice of the

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (; ) is the supreme court, highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The Supreme ...

from April 5, 1880 to April 5, 1892. He was the first Creole Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Early life, education, career, and military service

Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

,''Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana'' (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., ''The Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1922), p. 122. Bermudez "was a Creole,—that is, a native-born Louisianian,—of ancient and distinguished Spanish descent".Lamar C. Quintero, "The Supreme Court of Louisiana", in Horace Williams Fuller, ed., ''The Green Bag'', Vol. 3 (1891), p. 122-23. He attended Boyer's School in New Orleans, and received a classical education at

Spring Hill College Spring Hill College is a private Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama. It was founded in 1830 by Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile. Along with being the oldest private college or university in the state of Alabama, it was the first Catholic college ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, where he graduated in the year 1851. He

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

in the Kentucky home of U.S. District Judge Thomas Bell Monroe, and then studied for six months at the Law Department of the University of Louisiana (later

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

), receiving an LL.B. in 1852. He gained

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the following year, at the age of 21, and was quickly successful as an attorney. He was a member of the state Secession Convention of 1861, where he " posed immediate secession, but voted to pass hefinal secession ordinance", and then served in the Army of the Confederacy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, serving as a judge advocate in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

Later life and judicial service

After the war, Bermudez was elected an assistant city attorney in 1866, but was removed from this position by General

Philip Sheridan Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with General-i ...

the following year "as an impediment to

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

". Bermudez then returned to private practice, also mentoring young attorneys including

Edward Douglass White Edward Douglass White Jr. (November 3, 1845 – May 19, 1921) was an American politician and jurist. A native of Louisiana, White was a Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court justice for 27 years, first as an Associate Justice of ...

, who went on to become

Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...

. Bermudez received an

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree in 1876, and was appointed as the seventh Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court (and the first Chief Justice under the Constitution of 1879) in 1880. He remained in office for his full twelve-year term, "despite ill health in isfinal years".

Personal life and death

Bermudez married Elizabeth Amanda Maupassant, with whom he had nine children, five of whom died young. He died at his home in New Orleans at the age of 60, due to

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

, less than six months after completing his service on the court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bermudez, Edouard 1832 births 1892 deaths Lawyers from New Orleans Spring Hill College alumni Tulane University Law School alumni Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court 19th-century Louisiana state court judges